Leaning into a new role, Lexie Hull is 'playing with a high level of confidence' for Fever

Indianapolis Star

11-05-2025

ATLANTA — Lexie Hull has seen her role change many times over her young career.
She came off the bench as a rookie in 2022, averaging just 12 minutes per game. In 2023, she was a full-time starter, averaging 20.2 minutes and 4.6 points per game. She went back to the bench to start 2024, then surged after the Olympic break, forcing her way into the starting lineup.
Now, with the Fever bringing in veterans like DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sophie Cunningham, Hull will likely see her role decrease again.
But she won't let that put her into a box. Even if she's coming off the bench instead of starting, getting fewer minutes than she has in past seasons, she doesn't let that change her game.
And that, Fever coach Steph White said, is what makes her such a great player.
'When you accept your role, as Lexie does, you can't allow it to put you in a box, right?' White said following Indiana's preseason finale on Saturday. 'Your role can change throughout the course of the season. Your role can change throughout the course of your career. So, you want to be able to stretch and expand. And I think Lexie has done a really good job of putting herself in position for that.'
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Hull came off the bench for 23 minutes in Indiana's preseason game against Atlanta on Saturday, including the entire fourth quarter alongside the Fever backups.
Playing alongside Sydney Colson, Brianna Turner, Jaelyn Brown and Makayla Timpson, Hull was the star of that fourth quarter.
She scored 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, putting her total up to a team-high 14 points. She shot 6 of 12 from the field, adding five rebounds and four assists to push the Fever over the Dream.
She found open lanes for easy assists, split defenders for layups, and developed that mid-range game. As the only Fever returner on the floor in the fourth quarter, she took on that leadership role and did it with confidence — something she was able to hone with the competitive Fever training camp.
'Confidence comes from getting the reps, the game-like reps, over and over again in practice,' Hull said. 'And you know, our team is super competitive, so every single day that we have training camp so far has felt pretty much game-like, like we're all taking it very serious, and it starts in practice."
That confidence also came from her work (and success) in the WNBA offseason. Hull played with Unrivaled, the new 3x3 league in Miami, and that type of game not only helped her stay in shape for the season, but it forced her to be even more in touch with her defensive abilities and one-on-one play.
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Winning an Unrivaled championship with the Rose Basketball Club helped, too.
'Lexie is playing with such a high level of confidence,' White said. 'You saw that in the second half of last season, (she) started to grow into that. I think you saw it a lot in Unrivaled as well. It unlocked, I think, a little bit of creativity.'
Hull's heroics on Saturday helped the Fever go 3-0 in the preseason, recording wins over the Washington Mystics (OT), Brazilian National Team and Atlanta Dream.
With a team like this, Hull said, she knows she has to trust the process. She may not get as many minutes as she had before, have as big of a role, but it's important all the same. Successful teams are built with players like Hull, who have that selfless, team-first mindset at their core.
'It's gonna be an exciting season,' Hull said. 'I think, more than anything, we're a deep team, and I think everyone's really bought into trusting the process this season. It's gonna stick. It might not start off super pretty, but we know that putting in the work, putting trust into the coaching staff, trusting each other, that by the end of the season, we'll be exactly where we want to be.'